1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a retractable bowling alley bumper system for preventing bowling balls from entering the gutters.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional bowling alley, a bowling ball not directed down the center portion of the lane can fall into the gutter, resulting in a gutter ball and no pins knocked down. While the gutters provide boundaries with which skilled players can test the limits of their game, they can also be very discouraging to inexperienced, young, or handicapped bowlers who may throw frame after frame of gutter balls resulting in a low score or no score at all.
In an effort to open up the game to more people and to make it more enjoyable, bumper systems have been developed which prevent a bowling ball from entering the gutter. In such systems, an elongated longitudinal guard is placed along the length of the gutter. The longitudinal guard prevents a bowling ball from entering the gutter, keeping the ball in the lane.
However, early bumper systems were difficult to set-up and often resulted in the designation of a lane as a bumper bowling only lane. As such, this limited the availability of both conventional and bumper lanes, as well as limiting the prospects of a group of bowlers of varying degrees of skill and physical ability to play together.
Accordingly, retractable bumper systems have been developed which permit the longitudinal guard to be easily deployed or retracted, depending on the skill or physical ability of the player. A variety of such retractable bumper systems have been described, for example in: U.S. Pat. No. 4,900,024; U.S. Pat. No. 5,181,716; U.S. Pat. No. 5,207,422; U.S. Pat. No. 5,304,097; U.S. Pat. No. 5,322,476; U.S. Pat. No. 5,358,448; U.S. Pat. No. 45,405,295; U.S. Pat. No. 5,415.591; U.S. Pat. No. 5,417,616; U.S. Pat. No. 5,435,788; U.S. Pat. No. RE. 35,232; U.S. Pat. No. 5,564,986; U.S. Pat. No. 5,681,224; U.S. Pat. No. 5,800,274; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,857,918.
A conventional bowling alley typically comprises a longitudinally extending lane, disposed over a lane bed, defining a flat horizontal surface. A foul line extends across one end of the lane, perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the lane. The opposite end of the lane comprises a pin deck adapted to receive a plurality of bowling pins thereon. A pair of longitudinally extending gutters is disposed along and in a substantially abutting relation to the sides of the lane, with one gutter on each side of the lane. The gutters are adapted to receive any balls that are bowled towards either side of the lane, directing the balls to the end of the lane, missing the pin deck.
The bumper system of the subject invention prevents a ball from entering the gutter, instead redirecting the ball into the lane. The bumper system comprises a longitudinal rail with a plurality of pivot arms affixed thereto.
Each pivot arm comprises an upper end and a lower end, where the upper end is pivotally connected to the longitudinal rail with a pin, shaft, or other similar connection device. The lower end of the pivot arm comprises an integrated bushing, where the integrated bushing is disposed between the pivot arm and the lane.
The longitudinal rail comprises a u-shaped rail, comprising a pair of parallel vertical sides members connected to a horizontal top member, forming an open bottom end. The upper end of the pivot arm is inserted into and pivotally connected within the open end of the u-shaped rail.
The bumper system is affixed to the bowling alley by forming a vertical surface in the lane bed longitudinally along the sides of the lane. In existing lanes, that portion of the gutter abutting the side of the lane is removed, exposing the side of the lane bed, forming the vertical side surface. The bumper system is pivotally affixed to the vertical side surface of the lane bed by positioning the lower end of the pivot arm against the vertical side surface, where the integrated bushing is interposed between the pivot arm and the vertical side surface. The pivot arm is pivotally affixed to the vertical side surface of the lane bed by a pin, shaft, or other similar connection device so as to move in paired unison with the displacement of the longitudinal rail. In this manner, the longitudinal rails can be displaced between the retracted position for exposing the adjacent gutter and the fully extended position guarding the adjacent gutter.
The pivot arm is positioned along the vertical side surface of the lane bed such that when the bumper system is in a retracted position the horizontal surface of the longitudinal rails are in a substantially abutting relation to the side of the lane, such that the adjacent gutters are adapted to receive any balls that are bowled towards either side of the lane, directing the balls to the end of the lane, missing the pin deck. In an extended position, the longitudinal rails prevent balls from entering the adjacent gutters, redirecting balls into the lane, such that the balls strike the pins in the pin deck.
The bumper system is extended by manually displacing the longitudinal rails, which rotates the attached pivot arms. The longitudinal rails are displaced until the pivot arms engage the stop mechanism. The stop mechanism comprises a shaft inserted into the vertical side surface of the lane bed, thereby limiting the rotation of the pivot arms to that of slightly greater than ninety degrees.
These and other features of the present invention will be more readily understood with reference to the following detailed description, read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing figures.